I am the extremist your Government warned you about....
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Friday, October 31, 2014

...Is where I live.....So I saw this graphic that claims that HALF of the population lives in the blue shaded areas. (I cannot confirm this, but have seen similar graphics that show a similar pattern.)

No wonder the character of this nation has changed so drastically in my lifetime. The urban people have so much influence over so great an area that they know nothing about. Note in the second graphic the concentrations of minorities....Is it any wonder things are the way they are?

But really, is there no common sense in our government officials? Do the people who SHOULD know better not have the guts to stand up and say "NO!" when it comes to lying parroting the Politically Correct line of bullshit.

BTW: If you aren't reading Racontuer Report then you should be...especially THIS post...why all the aid we send is essentially a waste. And why leaving our borders open won't fix things over there. Sierra Leone is, essentially, a write off. Even the aid agencies are pulling out. And the Africans Can't/Won't /Aren't smart enough to help themselves.

Monday, October 27, 2014

So the folks who should know what they are talking about are parroting the line "Quarantine is ineffective" when it comes to Ebola. I am not sure why the statement was first uttered nor why Anyone would repeat it.

Seriously. How can it Not be effective? Keeping a person who may or may not have a disease under observation until the likelihood has passed that they would show symptoms or develop the disease in order that they will not infect others is "ineffective"? How so? Why is it a good idea to allow people with potentially deadly diseases to wander around the general population until they are infectious and expose others a better idea? It may be inconvenient for the people returning from affected areas, or who have given care to people here, but it WILL prevent the spread of disease here in the US. The doctors and nurses may not like the idea, but at least they know it will happen...and it will help keep ebola out of OUR population here in the US.

Quarantine works....It has worked for many years in our past. In fact, I had the pleasure of paying for a cat to be quarantined until it was determined that he did not have rabies a few weeks ago. THis was state law....that the cat remain under observation and was not allowed to interact with others until the time had passed wherein it could be determined if the cat had rabies and could infect others (and whether it had infected me).

Logic would say that if it was effective in that instance to prevent the spread of rabies, and if it has worked in our past to prevent the spread of other diseases, it would be effective now.

I don't understand why these people are effectively lying when it comes to ebola. I fail to understand their logic, and I wonder what other reasons they have for making these false statements, They are, effectively, putting people's live at risk.

Quarantine may not be 100% effective. Few things are. But quarantining people likely to be infected upon their return to the general population will greatly reduce the chances that the virus will be spread in this country.

And really, do they think the rest of us are that stupid as to believe such a statement?

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Usually a nice show. Lots of private sellers and lots of collectibles.
Generally sane(r) prices and such, unless one is looking at 120+ year old collectible leverguns in NRA 90% or something (yes, you can find those in this small show) or WWII bringbacks (of which I know nothing, so...)

But not this year. Extremely high prices. Even if one wants a 700 in 257 Robers or something, (used), you'd find it....for $850 or more...Other pricing was similar. 870 wingshooters for $600...used. Ammo was available if a bit high. But available.

Pass.

I bought breakfast and a piece of pie. I did get to eat about a pound of Amish bacon for breakfast though.

One might have thought that the health care folks who were treating Mr. Duncan in Dallas might have been, if not quarantined, at least restricted from travel....But no. Apparently, they have all gone on far flung vacations.

If there is a third wave from any of these healthcare workers, then the CDC folks should be charged with attempted homicide for their negligence.

And beaten for their stupidity...

Now, there are a LOT of diseases that look like Ebola (or Ebola looks like a lot of other diseases) in the early stages. Cruise ships are known for harboring Norovirus, so it could be that...But still, travel after caring for Ebola patients with no quarantine?

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Remember that the CDC and NIH were spending their taxpayer funded budgets on Anti-Gun propaganda and Overweight Lesbian studies and other non disease related things....

Which is why their response to the upcoming Ebola crisis has been so poor and disjointed and ineffective.

I'm not even sure if anyone there really knows more than I do (and I only know what I can find via Google, honestly) about Ebola.

So rather than spend our money on, you know, disease research, The Centers for Diease Control has been pissing it away.

And the National Institute for Health has been doing the same.

Kinda like the fact that the Feds were watching you and I while the 9-11 terrorists boldly waked into this country and killed 3000 people....because the Feds weren't looking and preparing for the right danger....

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

This was one fought by Eric Holder in an attempt to defraud eligible voters "make it easier for minorities to vote". The Justice Dept (and Eric Holder and his boss, Barry O) lost this one...For now at least.

Oddly enough, you need an ID to get beer, cash a check, get a job....Open a bank account (unless you are an illegal alien)..get welfare, etc. But it is an undue burden to have to get one....at least to get one when you have to use it to vote...

Here in Indiana we have had this law for years. Last time I voted, the folks at the polling place said "Hi, B, nice to see you...lemme see your ID"... (they follow the law!).

Much less fraud here in Indiana...maybe not zero, but a LOT less. And minorities somehow were able to produce an ID when they wanted to vote for Barry......

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Does anyone know what has happened to the folks living with Mr Duncan in the aprtment where he fell ill?

No one has said what happened to them....

Are they healthy? Or do they have Ebola?

'Twould seem to me that if this disease is so virulent that a nurse could catch it despite protective gear ("Ebola is hard to catch", remember?) that the folks who were in close contact with him when he was in frank symptoms must have been exposed....especially after living in that same apartment for a few days after he was admitted to the hospital...And we haven't seen hide nor hair of them since they were whicked away and placed into isolation....

70% of the residents in the area are black....but 4 out of 5 town council members are white.

And no one has bothered to register to vote...so they get the government (and the police) they deserve.

I have found this to be a pattern with relatively poor African American people (and the poor in general, actually).. they are unhappy with the way their lives are going and how they are treated, but they do little to improve their lot in life.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

So despite the best equipment and the best training, someone apparently made a mistake and contacted Ebola. I feel very sorry for her.

One might have thought that with all the resources available this could have been prevented...Of course, had Mr. Duncan not come from Liberia without screening........

And, of course, had the CDC not lost sight of it's mission and spent the budget investigating domestic violence and workplace injuries and glowball warming and such, they might have been able to put together a cohesive, non PC response...

Friday, October 10, 2014

So a year or so ago, our Sears garage door opener died (after literally 40 years of service)....Since this is our primary means of entry and egress from the house (we seldom use the front door) we had to purchase a new one, and after a bit of research, we chose a Chamberlain opener that Home Depot had on sale. Battery backup (not that big of a deal, but hey, the price was right) and the ability to check on the status of the door and open or close it over the internet, using a smartfone (a bigger deal, as I tend to forget whether I closed the door or not and often turned around on the way to work to make sure).

We liked the feature, and used it often....then MC got a new phone and I found out that I had, foolishly, forgotten to write down the logon and password....and for some strange reason, the Chamberlain system failed to recognize my email in order to reset the password.

One call to the help desk was all it took. The woman there, using the caller ID feature, was able to identify me, and send me a new password via email....AND INSISTED THAT SHE STAY ON THE LINE WHILE I ENTERD IT and made sure that the new password worked.... Then called me today to make sure that I had had no issues entering the new password into MC's new phone and that everything was working.

This is a lot better than I expected. I really expected to get "Peggy" from Indonesia with an accent that was hard to understand or Achmed from Pakistan or something...but I got a real American sounding person who was pleasant and easily understood..... Who followed up to make sure that I was happy and satisfied.

Now, I expect that this door opener will last a few years, but I also know that when I buy another one, I will certainly look at Chamberlain first.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Now, this is likely a false alarm. Then again, WHY WASN"T THE CDC paying attention to ANYONE who was in contact with patient zero--Mr Duncan (who, BTW, died earlier Wed AM). I mean, monitoring several times a day for fever and other symptoms....Why did he go to a "quick care" facility instead of a hospital? (And why, when he visited the partement of Duncan, wasn't he given at least a mask and gloves?).

Again, this MIGHT (probably is) a false alarm. But again, this illustrates the casualness that the CDC and the Texas and Dallas Health departments are treating this.

Seriously, if I were in the Dallas area, I'd be gettin worried about now. The whole handling of this entire incident seems like an opening storyline from a book like "The Stand" or a movie like "Outbreak". (or How to Enable a Pandemic in 6 Easy Steps...)

But,as Tam points out, at this point the odds of you or I contracting Ebola are fairly small... But the more I learn about the response by the CDC (and others who SHOULD know better) the higher I think those chances get.

This is a continuation of the story....and one that ends badly for those who screw with the family and friends of John Cronin. The details are there, of both rifle shooting and pistol shooting. The character development is excellent, and, for a while, you live his story.

Monday, October 6, 2014

So if the CDC (that is, the Centers for Disease Control) can totally drop the ball on a single case of open border foolishness ebola, then perhaps we need a shakeup of their management....and perhaps a redefinition of their primary responsibility....maybe they oughta stop telling us about our (un)healthy lifestyles global warming and such and concentrate on, you know, DISEASE...since they apparently have forgotten their primary mission....See, I am not much for government agencies, and think most of our Federal government should be disbanded....but the CDC might just be one of the agencies that have merit....if they'd do their job.

Their response was, well, let us be kind and say it was suboptimal. I'm not a doctor (although I have played one, but that is another post) and I can easily see that they basically fucked up by the numbers. Both the CDC and Dallas and Texas Health departments. Yeah, once they got rolling and the news media got to reporting it, the authorities began (or maybe it simply took that long to get rolling) to act, but their response wasn't timely at all....Thing is, we don't have the ability to deal with this disease if and when it gains a foothold here. Yes, we have great healthcare. I got that. But not for something like this. We have neither the people nor the facilities with which to deal with a major epidemic....

Which is why our borders are our only real protection, and why failing to properly screen or quarantine people entering from ebola affected areas is so important and must be fixed.

(part of me wonders how many cases there have been in European countries which we haven't heard about? If one could get here, it is just as easy, actually easier, to get to Europe, as most routes go from Africa to Europe to the US....)

Seriously...if this case in Dallas does not demonstrate WHY we need better Customs and Border Controls, then nothing will.

This one case may well spread to others....It may be contained, it may not. We shall know more in another 20+ days...if it is contained, then we, as a nation, will be lucky. If not, well, we shall see how bad it gets. Patient Zero (Dallas) may well have infected others on his route from Liberia through Brussels through Dulles, and then to Dallas.....Lots of people who had contact with him when he may or may not have been contagious. And contact with the airplane and airport furniture after he had been there and maybe contaminated those surfaces...... and if he is dying and in critical condition on 10/1 then he was sick enough to be contagious on the 9/22.

And if we end up with 20 cases, or a hundred, WE REALLY DON'T HAVE THE FACILITIES TO DEAL WITH THAT MANY PATIENTS .

Maybe we were lucky this time. Maybe. But keeping such people out of our country is the only way to prevent a worse "Next time".

Everything is fine......The government has said so...

There, don't you feel better?

If you don't have preps...facemasks, gloves, faceshields, something to cover your exterior and to sterilize surfaces and hands with, then you might want to perhaps plan, SOON, on finding some....'cause your government is doing dick-all to keep you safe. I'm not saying that the time to panic is here, but if there is a second or third patient with ebola, you won't find anything to use at all.

This weekend, Home Depot and Menards in my area ran out of N-95 facemasks and tyvek suits....They are up 4000% at Amazon...(I already had a stock of both in my preps) ...Some folks think that there will be a need.....
Let us hope they are wrong.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

So I am at work .....I hear this terrible crying from outside. Sounds like a kitten in distress.

I go outside. Sure enough there is a 4-8 week old kitten in the bushes. Frightened and when it sees me, it hisses and backs up into the corner.

Hmmm. Wonder where it came from???
No houses around..Maybe momma cat stashed it in the bushes. I decide to leave it for a while and see what happens.

2 hours later, kitty is still there and it is beginning to rain.

Hell....Dammit.

Ok, I reach into the bushes and grab kitty by the scruff of the neck.

Turns out it isn't helpless and that it is faster than a striking snake.....It turns its little head and bites my thumb.... and again.... and again.
I almost dropped the ungrateful little thing.
But instead, I carried it inside and put it in the office bathroom. I ended up with11 bites. One in the meat of my thumb. I let all the punctures bleed for a few minutes until they begin to clot, then pour 70% isopropyl on them to clean and disinfect as best I can....I mean, I thought I might get a scratch, but not bites....certainly not 11. (yeah, I got my ass kicked by a 1 lb kitten.....)

"Rabies?" said I to myself? "Feral kitten...could be rabies." Now the only test I know of for rabies is hard on the animal, as it requires samples of brain tissue....it is a destructive test, if you get my drift. Then again, I don't want rabies. My understanding is that it is a bad way to go, although I hear the hallucinations are great just before you kick off....

So I call the local county animal control office. No help. Not even interested. Couldn't care less and couldn't have any less knowledge as to procedure...They will have someone call me back. Maybe..... Might even be today....Suggest I call Public Health Department. I give them my name and number and hope that I will get a call back. I mean, you couldn't find a less caring more incompetent bunch if you dragged people of the street....Patronage employment in Lake County Indiana has destroyed every government office. One might have thought that the ANIMAL CONTROL folks might have some idea as to what to do for an animal.....but no... In the meantime, since I have a good 20 year relationship with my vet (I have 5.35 cats currently) I call them:

"Yeah, likely in a kitten you don't have anything to worry about. But best to have it tested..." is the opinion..... I enquired about the method of testing and yes, it is hard on the cat. The alternative is 10 days of quarantine and an examination. Which runs about $260. How much is the brain type rabies test? I ask... $215.

In the meantime the County Board of Health calls me and wants to know what I am going to do.....Have to fill out a report.... HAVE to have the animal tested or owner verified. (I was tempted to tell them that I lost the cat and it ran away....). This is the help I got from the Animal Control folks...they called the Board of Health...Procedure, you know. The Health people's only concern is that I could have rabies (and who suggested I look out for infection and maybe get a Tetanus shot....)

So, I went home, got a cat carrier (and leather welding gloves!), crated the kitty (who was not happy about the whole thing but couldn't get through the gloves) and took the little spiteful feral kitten to the vet for quarantine. hey, what's an extra fifty or so? The test now HAS to be done, as the County is now informed (I, foolishly, woke the beast). The County Health folks apparently did a reverse lookup and knew my home address from my cell phone number and will fine me if I don't fill out a report. Not like they are helping with the cat either....Or the test...... Somehow I ended up being responsible for the frikkin test. No owner, so I am the responsible party...and the fine is "not less than $250...I should have told 'em I lost the thing and taken my chances with rabies....

So...in 10 days we know if I have rabies...and now I gotta find a home for this little kitten (which is worth $260....)

If this whole Ebola in Dallas thing didn't have some SERIOUS possible consequences it would be laughable.

The inept emergency room folks on the 26th

The inept handling of the situation by both Texas/Dallas Public health and the CDC. (what, exactly, are they doing with all the money we spend in them, if they cannot react well to a single instance of a communicable disease?)

The fact that only today, 5 days later, are they doing any sort of disinfecting of the areas where Mr. Duncan vomited in the public spaces outside of the apartment where he was visiting....

This whole thing reads like an implausible scenario of a 1970's disaster.horror flick.

Except it isn't one. It is real....and there are people in charge who are inept enough to let things happen like this..,. I mean, I realize they are government workers, but still, shouldn't we expect them to have some idea what to do....? Isn't thre someone in charge who knows something?

Scary...and angering that the folks who should have known better and have known what to do.....didn't. They couldn't even send someone out to the apartment sidewalks with some bleach water and a Hudson sprayer to disinfect....they let a work crew PRESSURE WASH the sidewalk....possibly aerosoliszing the infectious residue...

If true, then Duncan KNEW he was exposed to Ebola....and he willfully exposed others.

If there is a nightmare scenario for the spread of a disease, this is it. Read the link. It is scary that he KNEW he had been exposed and selfishly decided to come here....exposing others to a DEADLY disease in his travels

His actions are, IMO, criminal.

If others die from this, here is the US or from exposure to him in any of the planes or airports, he should be tried for murder.

The scary part is that if he could do what he did, then others may as well.

I would like to see travellers from Africa in general quarantined until the outbreak is contained.

Apparently he had some kind of contact with about 20 others, including 5 or so school age kids.

Plus, of course, the folks on the airplane and in the airport.

Nuttin' to see here folks....move along. Nothing to worry about.

If you are of a mind to prepare, buy safety glasses, alcohol and bleach and gloves. Trash bags too, so you can improvise protective gear for caregivers.

Facemasks.

Soap.

plus, of course, food and water and such. And your adult beverage of choice....

Doubt if it spreads too far, but since no one is monitoring the people who enter this country (legally or not....) then it can happen again.

And the Doctors in Dallas apparently weren't too bright......Dude informed the emergency room folks on his FIRST visit that he HAD BEEN TO LIBERIA and was "sent home with antibiotics"...

Scary, isn't it? Medical professionals dropped the ball that badly: "On September 26, he sought treatment at the hospital after
becoming ill but was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. Two
days later, he was admitted with more critical symptoms, after requiring
an ambulance ride to the hospital."

And the ambulance "has been disinfected " and is back in service. Howdja like to find out you'd been transported in that carriage?

We shall see how things progress. On the one hand, they claim that if you aren't showing symptoms, you aren't infectious...on the other had, everyone who was in contact with Patient Zero is supposed to stay home and out of contact with others for 21 days....Hmmm....why, if they aren't infectious until symptomatic?

Stuff you should have:#1

If you are in or near NW Indiana:

μολὼν λαβέ

This phrase was reportedly the defiant response of King Leonidas I of Sparta to Xerxes I of Persia when Xerxes demanded that the Greeks lay down their arms and surrender prior to the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

About Me

I am just striving towards mediocrity....
Just a normal middle American middle class guy. I own my own business, employ a few people, and try to make a buck. In my (slight) spare time, I read a few blogs, shoot a bit, and rest.